See Also: Candide(dictionary)

progenitor (iou) and Candide (oh)


progenitor (iou)



progenitor noun. LME.
[Old French progeniteur from Latin progenitor ancestor, from progenit- pa. ppl stem of progignere beget, formed as PRO-1 + gignere create: see -OR.]
A person from whom another person, a family, or a race is descended; an ancestor; a parent; Biology an ancestral species. LME.
A spiritual, political, or intellectual predecessor. L16.
The original of which a thing is a copy. L19.
progeni'torial adjective of, pertaining to, or of the Nature of a progenitor E19.
progenitorship noun the position or fact of being a progenitor E19.

Candide (oh)



(1759) a book by the French writer Voltaire which is a satire (=humorous criticism) on the belief that "everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds". Candide is a young man who is taught to be an optimist, but his experiences show him how bad life is, and he decides that it is best to "cultivate (=look after) one's own Garden".